Former England coach Steve McClaren, once the object of scathing ridicule in his native country, is set to pull off one of the most remarkable transformations with Dutch club FC Twente.

On Sunday, McClaren will be bidding to beat league rivals NAC Breda and, depending on second-placed Ajax s result, become the first English manager since Bobby Robson at Porto in 1996 to win a major European league title.

With one game left, FC Twente are one point clear of Martin Jol s Ajax and poised to win a first Championship since 1926 after being runners-up last season.

Lampooned as The Wally with the Brolly after England s dreams of qualifying for Euro 2008 were washed away in the Croatian rain two years ago, McClaren quickly fell out of favour in his native country.

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A double by Brazilian striker Brandao saw Marseille come from behind to beat Toulouse 2-1 after extra-time and move to within sight of their first silverware since 1993 as they reached the League Cup final on Wednesday.

Brandao a six million euro signing from Ukraine s UEFA Cup winners Shakhtar Donetsk in the 2009 transfer window struck with a header in the 85th minute.

He then delivered the killer blow in the 104th minute to cancel out France international Andre-Pierre Gignac s opener for the hosts.

Both sides had played out a relatively cagey first-half with Brandao going down in the ninth minute with a head wound, which required him to go off and return some six minutes later with the cut bandaged.

Strike partner Lucho Gonzalez was the only one of the…

Chelsea have equalled Arsenal s record for successive wins in a single Premier League season, matching the 13 straight victories managed by the Gunners in 2001-02.

The Blues defeated Stoke City 4-2 at home on Saturday to bring up the milestone in what is manager Antonio Conte s first campaign in England.

It was a 3-0 loss away to Arsenal in September that sparked Chelsea s impressive streak, a run that started on October 1 with a 2-0 win at Hull and has fired them into a commanding lead at the top of the table.

In a welcome omen for Conte and his players, Arsenal went on to win the league in the season when they set the benchmark. 

It marks an impressive turnaround for Chelsea, who were champions under Jose Mourinho in 2014-15, only to endure a nightm…

Arsene Wenger is willing to wait until the end of the season to hold contract talks with Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil so as not to derail Arsenal s title challenge.

Sanchez and Ozil are arguably the Gunners key players, but Wenger believes full concentration should currently be given to their league situation.

Asked about new deals for the pair, he said at Wednesday s media conference: We ll deal with that later in the season. At the moment we focus more on the present.

Ozil joined Arsenal from Real Madrid in September 2013 and is currently enjoying a rich vein of form, leading the Premier League assist charts with 15 in 16 appearances, eight clear of Leicester City s Riyad Mahrez and Everton winger Gerard Deulofeu. He has also netted four times in all competi…

Barcelona president Joan Laporta is convinced Lionel Messi will sign a new contract to stay with the LaLiga giants.

Messi is out of contract at the end of the season and the 33-year-old s future with Barca is far from certain amid strong links to Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City.

Laporta remains determined to re-sign Messi, who has spent his entire senior career at Camp Nou.

As Barca prepare for Saturday s Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao, Laporta was asked about the record six-time Ballon d Or winner.

Lionel  

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)

Everything is progressing adequately, Laporta told Deportes Cuatro.

I will do everything within the club s capabilities to get him to stay. That s what we re doing. Messi …

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Germany s Ewald Lienen said on Monday that he has agreed to become the coach of Greek heavyweights Olympiakos Piraeus for next season.

We have agreed on all points but no contract has been signed as there are still some procedural issues with my current club 1860 Munich that I must settle, he told reporters after a four-and-a-half-hour meeting with the Olympiakos management.

This is a big challenge for me and I want to bring Olympiakos back to the top of the standings.

The 56-year-old added that he would have to return to Germany to cancel his contract with 1860 Munich before penning a deal with Olympiakos.

There is an agreement in principle. We must first settle some remaining issues with 1860 Munich and then the contract will be signed, said Olympi…

Both coach Joachim Loew and his squad are to receive Germany s top honours after winning the hearts and minds of fans by finishing third at the World Cup, it was revealed on Sunday.

Newly-elected German president Christian Wulff visited the team, just before they left their World Cup base to fly home on Sunday night after they beat Uruguay 3-2 in Saturday s third place play-off, to announce the news.

Loew is to receive Germany s Federal Cross of Merit, while the team will receive the Silver Bay Laurel Leaf, Germany s top sporting award, in recognition of their roles as ambassadors by scoring 16 goals at the World Cup.

This team is Germany s best ambassador on the world stage, said 51-year-old Wulff, who succeeded Horst Koehler, who resigned on May 31 after he a…

The brother of Lionel Messi has confirmed that the Barcelona star s second child has been born.

Messi missed training with Barca early on Friday, with the club citing personal reasons , as speculation grew that girlfriend Antonella Roccuzzo was due to give birth.

Matias Messi has since said via Twitter that the couple have indeed welcomed a second son who, despite earlier reports in Spain, will be named Mateo, not Benjamin.

Well people, Mateo has just been born, he s beautiful. We ll give you more details later, now to enjoy it! Thanks everyone!  wrote Matias.

Messi and Antonella s first child, Thiago, was born on November 2, 2012 .

The Argentina captain remains in contention to face Atletico Madrid on Saturday.

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Swansea City manager Garry Monk believes Liverpool s sacking of Brendan Rodgers doesn t make sense .

Rodgers departed the Liberty Stadium for Anfield in 2012, having led Swansea with Monk as his captain to promotion to the Premier League, where they thrived under the Ulsterman for a season and have since gone on to become an established force.

He almost took Liverpool to the Premier League title in 2013-14, but a failure to get over the line and a subsequent inability to recapture that form has cost him.

Rodgers was dismissed by Liverpool just hours after Sunday s 1-1 draw with Everton, but Monk believes the decision could come back to haunt them.

I just got told on the way in, Monk said at his post-match press conference after Swansea s 2-2 draw with T…